WINNER OF THE @WATTPADSERIES 'SERIES-OSLY GOOD READ' COMPETITION!!!
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When Wynnlow's Bunker is evacuated from an outside civilization known as Basilisk, his new world begins to explode, separating him from every one he has ever known. All his attem...
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In the clearing outside of the Bunker, there is a towering, faded-yellow bus parked up. Wynnlow knows it is waiting for them.
He pulls his attention back to his priorities, searching around for his family. Ares and his father hadn't returned back to the Bunker before they were pulled away, so he scans across everyone, trying to identify them in the new surroundings.
Elara is clinging onto their mother, a look of terror etched deep onto her features. He makes his way over, pushing through Emlyn and Junius to get to them, unbeknownst to it being the last time he sees them. She cries his name when he reaches them, her hands parting from their mother and latching onto Wynn, determined to never let go.
A roar of commotion diverts everyone's attention; Azha, Ares, and his father are being pushed over towards the group, their wrists bounded together with rope, guns aimed sharply at their backs. Wynnlow hears his mother cry out at the sight, pulling her husband and oldest child to her safety.
He looks around. All 18 are together. Something in his heart makes him question for how long. On the other side of the mob, Lyra makes eye contact with him, equally relieved to see the other safe. She holds onto her younger brother, shielding his eyes from the chaos erupting.
Finally, someone speaks, alerting them to what is happening.
"There's no need to panic, we're not going to shoot you. The guns are just assurance." Wynn notices it is the same girl who had appeared first from the other side. He is able to properly examine her now, her fierceness glowing under the sunlight. "We're going to load you onto the bus. Drury, our driver, is going to take you back to our base, Basilisk. You will be safe there."
We were safe before they invaded the Bunker, Wynnlow thought to himself, sharing a concerned look with his brother.
"If you're families, stick together. Though I'd assume you're all quite close." Then, she turns to two of the men armed behind her. "Zayden? Ellery? Help them up."
The men grab the first person closest to them, which so happens to be Lyra. She winces at the hold they have on her, struggling to find her feet as they lift her up into the bus.
Failing to think first, something found quite common with him, Wynnlow runs over to the door of the bus, jumping aboard right behind his friend.
"Pretty little thing has a boyfriend." One of the men teases, laughing at the innocence he sees in the two. Wynnlow shoots them an enraged look, only turning away to help Lyra to a seat.
They lock eyes with everyone one by one as they all file onto the bus, hurrying to a seat, terrified of what will happen if they disobey. Wynnlow feels a tight grip on his forearm, looking over to Lyra, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
"Wynn, I'm terrified." She whispers, her eyes only on him, afraid to look elsewhere.
The echo of his breaking heart beats inside his chest. He realizes that he can find any words to offer comfort to his friend at this time. Only four words manage to escape him: "I know. Me too."
Once everyone has been seated, the girl climbs on, standing at the front of the isle beside the driver. "I understand you will all be scared having lived underground for so long, but please, save your questions for arrival. Everything will be explained."
Wynnlow peers round to his parents, studying their reaction to the news. His father looks unsettled, concerned for his people, what could happen. His mother is leaning forward, a hand gripping tightly onto Elara's, her other resting on Ares shoulder.
The girl pulls down some sort of radio from a box above the driver's seat. She speaks again, but her words aren't directed to the group. "Bus is loaded. No signs of Riders of Third. Leaving on cue. River, out. Nation."
As the bus begins to move, startling some of the younger ones aboard, Wynnlow tries to comprehend what the girl meant. Riders and Third? River out? he couldn't fathom any logic behind what she was saying, his only conclusion being that it was in some sort of code. But that idea only made him more anxious. They could be directly discussing a plan or attack right in front of them, and they would have no idea.
No. He shook his head. He needed to distract himself from those thoughts, at least for now. At least until they reached wherever they were taking him.
But then, a sudden noise startled everyone, including those who weren't from the Bunker. It made Wynnlow think that it signaled something bad, something that wasn't supposed to happen.
"Basilisk, this is River. We've got company." The girl spoke, addressing herself as River. By the tone of her voice, it would have seemed that they had everything under control, as though they weren't afraid of the strange noises they were hearing, but Wynnlow studied the girl's expression carefully. She was no older than him, clearly the youngest of all that had found him, but seemingly the one with the most authority. And underneath it all, there was a moment of fear; that was how Wynnlow knew that something truly terrible was happening before the ground even had its chance to tremble.
What felt like a loss of gravity. A deafening pierce ringing through his ears, the bus rippling sideways, agony surfacing on every inch of his skin as shard of glass and sparks of fire flew across his sight.
A momentary loss of consciousness, perhaps. He couldn't be sure; the world was swaying and nothing made sense, everything unfamiliar and overwhelming. But he could hear screams, followed after the sound of pistols firing. He pressed his hands over his ears, not thinking yet to move, just wanting the noise to go away.
He looked around for a place to hide under, but as he went to step, he tripped over, unable to keep his balance. How he could he shield himself from the firing? How could he even possibly think of finding his family if the world wouldn't stop spinning long enough for him to move?
Before he could make a decision, figure some sort of way out, someone gripped onto the back of his shirt, pulling him away from a pit of fire right before it exploded. It didn't burn him, but the force of the impact sent him flying backwards, along with the person who saved him. He collided into a mountain of rocks, banging his head in the process.
With his new world already in flames, Wynnlow's eyes fell shut into a sleep he couldn't soon wake from, succumbing to the heat of the amber coloured chaos.
